Pixar employees accuse Disney of censoring “overtly gay affection” in films

Zack Sharf Ron Perlman slammed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week after he signed into law the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill on March 28. The “Hellboy” and “Don’t Look Up” actor posted a video to his Twitter page in which he called DeSantis a “fucking Nazi pig” and a “piece of shit.”  The legislation, officially titled the Parental Rights in Education Bill, bans kindergarten to third grade classrooms from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity topics.

One of Chris Wallace’s first guests on his new CNN+ series is former Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger, who makes the case for why corporate leaders should wade into major issues like climate change, immigration and, most recently, Florida’s so-called ‘don’t say gay’ bill.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorAriana DeBose made history on Sunday night by becoming the first openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar for her work as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” The musical was distributed by 20th Century Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company.On the Academy Awards red carpet before the ceremony, I talked with DeBose about Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. DeBose says she has reached out to Disney CEO Bob Chapek to talk about the studio’s controversial reaction to the legislation.“Bob and I, we’re gonna do the work,” DeBose said. “I have [spoken to Chapek].

Disney has issued a statement following the signing of Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has signed the controversial Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, into law.

“Here I am being queer and gorgeous and I’m on the red carpet, and I’m very happy to represent fellow gorgeous queer that consume Disney,” Encanto actress Jessica Darrow told Deadline tonight on the Oscars red carpet.

Oscar Isaac may be in the midst of promoting a new Disney series, but that doesn’t mean he’ll hold back criticism of the company’s corporate response to Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

LGBTQ+ Walt Disney Company employees and their allies put on a “full stage” walkout Tuesday at various corporate locations across the U.S. to protest what they see as a “lame” and “inadequate” stance taken by the company and its CEO Bob Chapek to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida.

Disney is still trying to deal with the fallout caused by their donations to politicians that are supporting the hateful “Don’t Say Gay” bill, a law passed in Florida that prohibits instruction regarding gender identity and sexual orientation. The company has offered flowery statements but still hasn’t been able to quell the backlash and reports that they’ve removed same-sex affection scenes in Pixar films.

Oscar Isaac has something to say about “Don’t Say Gay.”

As many of its LGBTQ+ employees get set for a full-day walkout tomorrow, Disney has decided to postpone a management retreat set for next week as it continues efforts to calm the internal waters.

Some new details are coming out about Pixar’s movie Luca.

Following an uproar by staff, Disney Pixar has restored a same-sex kiss in the upcoming animated film, Lightyear. Lightyear is the origin story of Buzz Lightyear of the Toy Story Disney film franchise.According to Variety, a scene involving a kiss between two female characters was removed by Disney executives. Following an open letter by Disney Pixar staff, the kiss, which will be the studio’s first, was restored.The uproar follows Disney’s mishandling and silence during the debate over Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill which is also discussed in the letter.“We are writing because we are disappointed, hurt, afraid, and angry,” the letter said.

On Saturday night, Greg Berlanti used his PGA acceptance speech as a platform to widely criticize the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation in Florida.

After coming under fire for its handling of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Pixar is restoring a cut scene from its upcoming film “Lightyear”.

Pixar’s forthcoming Toy Story prequel Lightyear has put a same-sex kiss back following an internal backlash to Disney’s handling of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment WriterOn March 9, LGBTQ employees and allies at Pixar Animation Studios sent a joint statement to Walt Disney Company leadership claiming that Disney executives had actively censored “overtly gay affection” in its feature films.

Angelique Jackson A group of Disney employees have planned a week of in-person and virtual walkouts in response to the company and CEO Bob Chapek’s handling of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill.On Monday afternoon, the Twitter account called Disney Walkout posted a message explaining that, “The LGBTQIA+ workers and allies at The Walt Disney Company are standing in solidarity together over the coming weeks.”The post then linked to an open letter written in partnership with members of the LGBTQ community across the Walt Disney Company (including Disney Corporate, Disney Television Animation, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, Disney Streaming, Enterprise Finance, Enterprise Technology/Global Information Security and Bento Box). “The recent statements by The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) leadership regarding the Florida legislature’s recent ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill have utterly failed to match the magnitude of the threat to LGBTQIA+ safety represented by this legislation,” organizers wrote.

“When we donate money to different political candidates, we have no idea how they’re going to vote going forward into the future,” said Disney CEO Bob Chapek at a shareholders meeting this past week.